YO Ranch Animal Park

How could I forget the animals?  Yesterday we toured the ranch by way of old school bus.  Our first stop was Belcher, the camel.  Our driver, Debbie, has trained him to do a trick with his mouth, which he demonstrated, and we fed him carrots.  Luckily, Belcher has forgiven her for moving him to a different pasture.  Camels have long memories.

Then it was on the giraffe family - Carlita, Enoch and Baby Saba (14 weeks).  Baby giraffes are in danger from their fathers, but Saba seems to be pretty wise and keeps his distance from Dad.  We also fed them - cookies and carrots.  Not the baby, though.  

Our last stop showed us the year-old longhorn steer, Sparky.  He's a runt and very sweet.  When I fed him the pellets he slobbered all over my hand.  We also saw their white buffalo and a prize longhorn bull that was a beautiful color, which made him even more valuable.  

Many of us found the hunting practices in Texas to be odd.  There are feeders all over the place with deer corn and they shoot out the food at timed intervals.  The deer come running.  That way the hunters don't have to do much "hunting".  Kind of like sitting ducks, which hardly seems sporting.  The kids start young and it's considered a rite of passage to get one's first kill, which then is sent to the taxidermist to be made into a wall hanging.